A mental health service network has been established as a first step, said a senior official with the Ministry of Health at a gathering to mark the 16th World Mental Health Day today.

By the end of 2006, China had 1,124 mental institutions, with 146,000 beds and 19,000 psychiatrists or assistant psychiatrists, Wang Longde, vice minister of the Ministry of Health, said on Tuesday.

"A mental health service network has been established as a first step," said the official at a gathering to mark the 16th World Mental Health Day.

He pointed out that China is still lacking in mental health services at the grassroots level. Public awareness concerning mental health is still at a low level and the prevention of serious mental illness is yet to be carried out.

According to an official survey conducted in some areas in 2005, only 30-40 percent of ordinary people had any knowledge of mental health and the prevention of mental illness. Merely 15-30 percent of local mental patients had received medical treatment.

According to previous reports, China had some 16 million mental patients.

(Xinhua News Agency October 10, 2007)